Site Mobile Navigation

Mark McGwire Discusses Hitting Instructor Role

The voice on the other end of the line, as enthused as a rookie’s after the first day of spring training, belonged to Mark McGwire. He was calling from California on Thursday to talk about his rebirth as a hitting instructor.

“I very rarely talked about my swing when I played,” McGwire said. “Really, not that many people asked. It’s really interesting to try to talk about it with hitters. It was so enlightening to work with the guys over the winter and see how their minds work. It was neat when you can see the light bulb go off.”

McGwire spent the winter on call, volunteering his time and expertise to four players from his former teams, the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardinals. He was reconnecting with a game he clearly loves. On the fields at the University of California at Irvine, he condensed the players’ swings, infused them with his knowledge and enthusiasm, and strengthened their minds, which he described as the batters’ most powerful and least developed muscle.

“I think all athletes have that God-given ability,” said McGwire, who is now 45. “What goes behind it is the work ethic. It’s all about improving yourself throughout your career and not being satisfied with one or two good years.”

The Thursday phone call from McGwire, which came in response to a reporter’s request for comment about his off-season work, was akin to a Greta Garbo moment. McGwire began withdrawing from public view in 2001, after his retirement from baseball, and that retreat became more pronounced after his appearance at a nationally televised Congressional hearing in 2005. When he declined to answer questions at that hearing about steroid use, his image took a huge beating. Since then, McGwire has rarely spoken to the news media.

In this instance, McGwire agreed to an interview with the understanding that it would focus on his work as a hitting tutor, and not on other issues. But at one point, McGwire did address the criticism he has received for being linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

“I’m such an easygoing guy,” he said. “I don’t need to sweep away any bitterness.” His foray into tutoring, he said, is not about what it can do for him, but what he has to offer. “I believe I have so much knowledge to give and help people improve as baseball players,” he said.

For the four major leaguers who were in his midst this winter — Matt Holliday and Bobby Crosby of the Athletics, and Chris Duncan and Skip Schumaker of the Cardinals —McGwire’s guidance was like a cross between fantasy camp and physics class.

“You walk up and it’s Mark McGwire, of all guys, teaching you how to hit,” Schumaker said last week. “You think he’s just so big and strong and that’s why he hit home runs. But he really knew what he was doing at the plate.”

McGwire was just as enthused as he discussed the collaboration. “It was really cool that Matt called and said, ‘Let’s work together,’ ” McGwire said of Holliday. “Next thing you know we’re working with Bobby and Skip, too.”

The exalted seldom make excellent teachers. Their gifts, a language indigenous only to them, are not easily translated. But McGwire may be an exception, perhaps, as he suggested, because he was self-taught. “The evolution of my swing, from college to the major leagues to the last day I played, was all done by myself,” he said.

Photo

Mark McGwire hitting his 63rd homer in 1998. He finished that season with 70.Credit
Leon Algee/Associated Press

Tony La Russa, who managed McGwire in Oakland and St. Louis, said last week that two injury-filled seasons, in 1993 and 1994, caused McGwire to reconsider his original approach to hitting, which consisted of seeing the ball and swinging at it. McGwire began studying pitchers and discovered he could detect their tendencies. He learned to make adjustments.

“He became really smart about his stroke,” La Russa, the Cardinals’ manager, said. “He got really smart about how to strategize the at-bat against the pitcher.”

McGwire retired with 583 home runs over 16 seasons. His back was an ache he couldn’t shake. Nor could he shed his history of androstenedione use or the steroid accusations. In the three years he has been on the ballot for the Hall of Fame, he has received minimal support.

Before his career was clouded by controversy, McGwire had talked about one day coaching. La Russa never forgot. He has continually tried to coax McGwire back into baseball by inviting him to attend spring training as an instructor. In 2008, La Russa wrangled an agreement from McGwire to help.

But at the last minute, a family matter caused McGwire to back out. He said he has not ruled out a spring-training stint in the future, but only if it doesn’t detract from his time with his two sons from his second marriage. McGwire also has a 21-year-old son from his first marriage whose childhood he regrets having largely missed.

“Being around my 5- and 6-year-old boys is such a thrill,” he said, adding: “Right now it’s not about me anymore. It’s about my family. When I played baseball, it was about me. It was about me wearing blinders like a horse.”

La Russa said the first player he encouraged to see McGwire was Duncan, after the 2007 season. Schumaker was invited to join them.

Schumaker, who bats leadoff for the Cardinals, hit .302 last season and credits McGwire for his success. “He teaches you how to hit every strike and not have to worry about a certain pitch if you have the same bat path every time,” he said.

This past off-season, Duncan and Schumaker were joined by Holliday, in his first season with the Athletics after starring in Colorado. “I just texted Mark and asked him if he wanted to hit,” Holliday said. “That’s how it started.”

Holliday then reached out to Crosby, who said, “I jumped at the chance.” He said hitting with McGwire was “instant change,” all for the good.

McGwire said batting is akin to boxing. He preaches hitting through the target, which he noted that Alex Rodriguez, Albert Pujols and Manny Ramírez do well. “When I talk about hitting and the drills I teach, it has nothing to do with hitting home runs,” McGwire said.

Holliday said he did not worry that someone might look askance at his association with McGwire. “I wouldn’t ever not want to have somebody in my life that could be a good friend or somebody I could really enjoy or learn from based on what other people might think about it,” he said.

Crosby summed up McGwire’s approach by saying, “You can definitely tell he loves teaching, and he loves baseball.”